2012 draws to a rapid close, winter begins to show her teeth, and the holidays are around the bend, for better or worse. For many of you, hopefully, that means a stuffed stocking and a gathering of loved ones; for some of us it’s just another length of rope. But we made it through 2012, the year the idiots predicted none of us would survive, and–hey, if the simple act of surviving the year proves the idiots are in fact idiots, I can live with that. Simple pleasures.

It’s been a hell of a year. We saw brilliant releases from old-timers eclipse the brightest lights in their catalog (see: Cannibal Corpse, Grave, Swans). We saw more death/doom and funeral doom than ever before, and almost all of it was fucking gold (see: Evoken, Indesinence, Anhedonist, lots more). We saw Incantation reclaim their shit-stained throne from all the bands copping their style these past few years (fucking finally–glad to have you back, boys!). And we saw black metal take a back seat for the first time in forever–allowing doom and death metal to soak up the critical and commercial spotlight. Sure, black metal had more than it’s share of moments (see: Ash Borer, Winterfylleth, Krallice), but as the dust settles and we reflect on 2012 as a solid chunk of time–this is unquestionably the year of doom.

To compile this bitch of a list, we polled our staff on their top 20 albums of the year (note to aspiring editors: I don’t recommend taking on a staff-wide list if you value sanity or free time). Points were assigned accordingly–a number one vote equals 20 points, a number twenty vote equals 1 point–and I made a ridiculously ugly spreadsheet that channeled the arcane power of math in order to magically pick our winners. In total 178 bands received votes, some as few as a point a piece (Dethklok got 2!). Our album of the year earned a total of 117 points, exactly 10 points higher than our number 2 pick. As in years past the top 50 albums will unfold next week, 10 at a time–but many of the most interesting picks actually pop up here, just outside the list proper, in the outer reaches of #51-75. Several of these topped individual writer’s lists, including Aluk Todolo, Faustcoven, and Wrathblade, so it felt only natural to give them a post of their own.

An important distinction: this list was not curated or manipulated in any way. What you see here is an accurate representation of what our writers voted for. As such, this is not intended as the definitive “BEST ALBUMS ACCORDING TO INVISIBLE ORANGES”. Instead it merely reflects the most popular records amongst the staff. Many brilliant albums are left off or score fairly low simply because they didn’t receive enough votes. All I’m saying here: it is what it is. It ain’t definitive, even if everything on here absolutely rules hard. Let’s get on with it.

— Aaron Lariviere

. . .

75. Down – Down IV Part 1 – The Purple EP

. . .

Down – “The Purple EP”

. . .

74. Huntress – Spell Eater

. . .

Huntress – “Spell Eater”

. . .

73. Pharaoh – Bury the Light

. . .

Pharaoh – “Graveyard of Empires”

. . .

72. Serpentine Path – Serpentine Path

. . .

Serpentine Path – Album trailer

. . .

71. The Great Old Ones – Al Azif

. . .

The Great Old Ones – “Album trailer”

. . .

70. Anatomy of Habit – Anatomy of Habit EP

. . .

Anatomy of Habit – “After the Water”

. . .

69. Aura Noir – Out to Die

. . .

Aura Noir – “Out to Die”

. . .

68. Ahab – The Giant

. . .

Ahab- “The Giant”

. . .

67. HellVetron – Death Scrolls of Seven Hells and Its Infernal Majesties

I’m glad to see that the new Graveyard LP is getting some attention. While it would be a stretch to call it metal, it’s retro done right: the kind of solid, instantly memorable hard rock songs that you don’t hear that often nowadays.

On a similar note, it’s kind of a shame that _Pop War_, the second album from Nicke Andersson’s Imperial State Electric, has received next to no attention, probably because neither it nor the self-titled debut from a few years back have ever had a U.S. release. The Hellacopters bounced from label to label (Man’s Ruin, Subpop, Gearhead), but at least their main albums were always available without having to shell out the extra money for imports. Anyway, anyone else out there who likes the new Graveyard stuff (and/or who liked the last few Hellacopters records) should give Imperial State Electric a listen.

I’ll be honest to say I wish Aluk Todolo made it into the top 3 of this year’s list, that’s just me though. Their show in September still blows my mind to this day, even though I wasn’t on any pyschedelic treats that night.

I enjoy the new Anaal Nathrakh well enough, but since I’ve been following them since The Codex Necro, I already have four other versions of the exact same album. (Three of those other versions don’t have so many annoying techno parts, fortunately.)

AN is an immensely talented band that obviously has a lot of unique ideas, so it really frustrates me that they don’t experiment more. I’d love to see them slow down with the incessant release schedule and put some more thought into what they’re doing.

I like it better than I did “In the Constellation of the Black Widow.” I’d like to see them push the electronic/industrial elements a little harder, though, get some new aural textures in there.

TheWolf

Posted December 25, 2012 at 1:16 PM

@Doug – Absolutely right. I can barely make head or tails from the last 3-4 albums of theirs. A band with a lot of promise, but if something radical doesn’t happen history will write them off as a one-two trick pony (mostly for Codex Necro… which I could listen to all the time).

Lot’s people seem to…it sounds like Magnus tried writing Tool songs with Guitar Center employees who were trying to write Witchcraft songs…hands down the worst record of the year to get so high on so many year end lists! So many better options for the whole retro-proto-metal sound this year.

I’m really glad that Witchcraft decided to abandon the lo-fi 70’s production value thing/mostly Pentagram tribute band… for as much as I loved what they did in that now gone era I’m looking forward to where they go from here in trying to conquer the rock world (opening for Ghost on an American tour would be AMAZING!). In terms of sound… it reminds me a lot of Opeth’s Still Life – Blackwater Park era.

it’s their best album (IMO) in Aura Noir’s stellar catalog – a steadily increasing chokehold of sick/killer/thrashtastic riffs wedded to brilliant arrangements (and legitimately awesome solos) that culminates in the massive title track – yet it barely made a djent in the false metal glut.